New Champion & New Winners - Round 8 – Kyalami – 14 November

Nicholas van Weely is the 2009 Investchem Formula Ford champion, but his season didn’t have the fairytale ending he was hoping for.

He arrived at Kyalami with a handy 12-point lead over Mathew Merton, which meant he was odds on favourite for the title.

Van Weely fired the first salvo by posting a blistering time of 1 minute 47.720 sec to put the Magnificent Paints & Hardware backed Van Diemen on pole position ahead of Stevie Morris’ sinister plain black version.

Row two was headed by Dean Hirschowitz (Knightsbridge Mygale) with James Temple (GWM Mygale) a fraction slower. Both are only in their first full season of racing although Temple has the benefit of a karting apprenticeship.

Merton battled to find a good set-up for Matsam Supplies Mygale in the 40 degree plus track temperature and could only manage fifth ahead of Werner Scholtz in the similar Chemical Logistics supported car.

Wesleigh Orr (Bravo Holdings Van Diemen) was next but his lack of pace was traced to an engine problem which relegated him to spectator status.

Allen Meyer (Super Quick Birchleigh Mygale) was fastest of the Zetec Challenge runners ahead of recently crowned SA Drivers Champion Jayde Kruger in the Knotsberry Foods Mygale usually raced by Paul Schultz.

The first race was a typically fraught Formula Ford tussle and a tardy start by Van Weely saw Morris lead from Temple and van Weely with Merton a good few car lengths adrift.

At the front positions changed regularly with van Weely moving up to second by half distance before Temple reclaimed his position. Merton then came into the picture and managed to take third from van Weely shortly before the end, but fourth was enough to give van Weely the title.

Fifth went to Hirschowitz with Scholtz rounding off the top six ahead of Zetec Challenge winner Rick Morris (Investchem Mygale) who benefited when Kruger failed the weight check afterwards.

There was drama shortly after the start of race two when Morris slithered into van Weely at Nashua which sidelined them both and gave Temple a lead he was to hold until the chequered flag swished through the air ten laps later. It was his first win and he took it with maturity and confidence. The win also gave him third in the championship.

Merton was just over a second behind and had Zetec Challenge winner Kruger keeping him honest. Hirschowitz was a distant fourth won an entertaining tussle with Scholtz.

Meyer won the Zetec class with sixth place ahead of Rick Morris.  

The Investchem Formula Ford series will introduce the new Duratec engine for class A next year with the existing Zetec powered cars racing in a class B. The new engine, although only displacing 1600cc, is lighter, smaller and more powerful than the current 1800cc Zetec engine.

Duratec Points
Robert Wolk 111
Jayde Kruger Mygale 82
Matthew Merton Mygale 76
James Temple Mygale 70
Werner Scholtz 47
Nicholas van Weely Van Diemen 45
Stephen Morris Van Diemen 43
Wesleigh Orr 42
View Full Duratec Points

Zetec Points
Ian Schofield Mygale 118
Jason Campos Mygale 81
Allen Meyer Mygale 74
Rick Morris Mygale 67
Andreas Petrou Mygale 56
Tony Sack Mygale 34
Paul Shultz Mygale 25
Graham Hepburn 17
View Full Zetec Points

Kent Points
Graham Vos Swift 63
Andrew Horne Royale 51
Sean Hepburn Ray 31
Achim Bergman Van Deimen 25
Graham Clayton Reynard 21
Rex Tweedie Swift 19
Dalan Holton Van Diemen 17
George Frost Swift 14
View Full Kent Points